A month-long crackdown has resulted in nearly 300 recommended criminal charges against people police allege are violent and prolific shoplifters working in downtown Vancouver. A statement from Vancouver police says officers worked closely with retailers and store security teams over four weeks, ending Feb. 12.The crackdown identified 250 alleged shoplifting incidents leading to 130 arrests and 268 recommended criminal charges.Police say just over $37,000 in stolen merchandise was recovered, along with 35 weapons, and 45 of those arrested were either the subject of a warrant or were allegedly b

Regional parks across Metro Vancouver are seeing record numbers of visitors as Lower Mainland residents seek outings that comply with pandemic rules. Park officials say more than 1.2-million people visited in January, more than double the number of visits in January 2020, while total visits last year were up 38 per cent as residents stayed close to home to avoid spreading COVID-19. All Metro Vancouver regional parks have stayed open throughout the pandemic. Although backcountry trails on North Shore parks, including the Grouse Grind on Grouse Mountain, are currently closed due to unsafe winte

BC has lost its application for a court injunction to halt services at three Fraser Valley churches whose members are defying rules against in-person gatherings. Chief Justice Christopher Hinkson turned down the application this morning after saying last week that the province was putting the court in an "impossible situation" by asking for it. The Attorney General's ministry and provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry requested the injunction after the three churches filed a petition alleging the ban on religious gatherings violates the rights of parishioners. The Riverside Calvary Chapel

Fraser Health is declaring two new community COVID-19 outbreaks at a school and childcare centre. The health authority says 35 COVID-19 cases were identified among staff and students at Timothy Christian School in Chilliwack on Saturday. It says the independent school voluntarily closed February 4th due to COVID-19 cases and Fraser Health is working with the school on a return to in-class instruction as early as next week. It says 24 COVID-19 cases were identified among staff and kids in five classes at the SFU Childcare Society in Burnaby. The remainder of classes are continuing operations.

One man is recovering from injuries linked to the latest targeted shooting in Surrey, B.C. RCMP say officers, including members of the gang enforcement squad, responded to reports of shots fired just after 10 p.m., Tuesday. The injured man was found in a residential area of central Surrey suffering from a gunshot wound. He has not been named but investigators say the attack was aimed at him and was not random. There have been more than half a dozen fatal, targeted or gang-related shootings across Metro Vancouver since last December. No arrests have been made in any of those cases and police

The RCMP is apologizing to a seriously injured man whom officers mistook for a robbery suspect in Surrey, B.C. Mounties say in a news release that officers were called to investigate an armed robbery at a business in the early hours of Feb. 8. They say an officer found a person riding a bicycle nearby and believed he matched the description of the suspect. RCMP allege the man resisted the officer's attempts to take him into custody and a struggle ensued, prompting other officers to join in. They say the man was assessed and treated at the scene by BC Emergency Health Services and it was later

British Columbia's provincial health officer is warning that COVID-19 cases and test positivity rates are ticking up in some jurisdictions due to increased interactions. Dr. Bonnie Henry says that while the overall number of cases has slowly been coming down across B.C., the seven-day rolling average is starting to creep up. She says this is particularly true in the Fraser Health region, where the viral reproductive rate has risen above one, meaning each infected person is passing the virus on to at least one other person on average. Dr. Henry says that over the past four days, 1,533 new case

Simon Fraser University says a cyberattack on a school server has exposed personal information. The British Columbia university says in a statement that spreadsheet data on the breached server contained personal information for a number of current and former students, faculty, staff and student applicants. The type of personal information stored in the spreadsheets varies by individual. The university says the breach mostly involved student or employee identification numbers and at least one other data element, such as admission or academic standing. It says banking details, social insurance

Vancouver Mayor Kennedy Stewart says he will ask council to implement a handgun ban in the city using powers proposed under newly tabled federal legislation. The proposed legislation would allow municipalities to ban the weapons through bylaws restricting their possession, storage and transportation. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Tuesday the measures will be backed up with serious penalties to enforce these bylaws, including jail time for people who violate municipal rules.Stewart says in a news release that the proliferation of handguns poses a great threat to public safety in Vancouver,